Louise Brooks Society

Me at 21

Me at 32

You know, somebody told me I looked like Louise Brooks when I was younger (above) and, needless to say, I was flattered. I did wear my hair in a bob (sort of) with bangs and I still do. No one can come close to Louise, though! I never really had her confident spunky quality.

Anyhow, The Louise Brooks Society live journal blogged about me today which was nice. So, I might just have to paint a portrait of Louise someday. Why not? I did use 3 of her more provocative poses in my Little Pierrot series paintings. They were the only 3 paintings that I actually used a photo reference for. There is a nice repro-poster of a vintage magazine cover for sale on ebay -"Police Gazette". And here's a link to The Louise Brooks Society website, Pandora's Box.

I have blogged about Louise quite a few times myself: all of my blog posts about Louise.
The Art of Amy Crehore

Louise Brooks, Muse of Artist, Guido Crepax

Louise Brooks
Art by Crepax, from "Valentina"
I am honored to have my bio and my "Caged Wonder" painting included in a new German language art encyclopedia of 1,000 fantastic/surreal/visionary/symbolic artists throughout art history and the world (due out later this year). The publisher in Vienna sent me an impressive list of "C" names chosen for the book (I will write more about this book later):
Cáceres, Cadmus, CAESAR, Cahun, Callot, Caltia, Calvet, Camacho, Campbell, Cañamares, Capova, Cardenas, Carra, Carrà, Carrington, Caruana, CASTIGLIA,, Cebis, Celan, Chab, Chagall, Char, Charnine, Charusa, Chavée, Chebotarev:, Chef, Cheval M. , Chibbaro, Chido, Christensen J, Christian antony, Chromy, Ciurlionis, Clerici, Cocteau, Coe, COEN, Cogollo, colinet, Collien, COLOMBINO, Colquhoun, Conner, Corben, CORCUERA, Cornell, Coudenhove, Coutaud, Crepax, Crepaz, Crevel, Criste , Croy, Csech, CUEVAS, Culmann, Cummings, CZERNIAWSKI, Crehore, Citroen, Cronin, Cristòfol, Ceccoli, Czerwinski.
I am having fun looking up some of the names on this list. For instance, here is artist, Guido Crepax. At least, I assume it's the very same person. Miss Louise Brooks was his muse. That woman inspired so many! I like his line work very much. "Guido Crepax (born Guido Crepas in Milan, 1933-2003) was an Italian comics artist, who deeply influenced the European adult comics world in the second half of 20th century. He is most famous for his character Valentina, created in 1965 and very representative of the spirit of the sixties." More about Crepax(or Crepas) on wikipedia. He's big in Italy according to my friend who lives over there. There is a cool video of him on YouTUBE, but it's all in Italian. And, if you want to read all about Louise Brooks follow this link.
The Art of Amy Crehore

Malcontents- part two

Louise Brooks, looking positively come-hither

John Brownlee at "Table of Malcontents" (wired.com) blogged about me a couple of times last week. He picked up the "Demons" post (as did drawn! and boingboing), but he also liked "Black Cat Tease" post. Just the mere mention of Louise Brooks has him dashing over to my blog. "I love Amy Crehore, a vivacious and talented minx if there ever was one......" quote from John Brownlee, read more here:
Amy Crehore Paints Louise Brooks
and "Amy Crehore — the perky little marvel who sets the gold standard for all artists devoted to painting topless Luau dancers strumming guitars and the monkeys in funny hats who love them"- another quote from a John Brownlee post:
A Zoo of Fantastical Beasts
Hey, what's a girl to do?
The Art of Amy Crehore

Louise Brooks and Ruth St. Denis on da beach

Photo of dancers on the beach includes Louise Brooks, second from right, as part of the Denishawn Dancers in Los Angeles, CA (Library of Congress). Click to Enlarge.

Top photo is of Ruth St. Denis herself in an unsual pose. (NY Public Library )
Read about Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn, what inspired their dance companies, and see more photos on bobster1985's flickr.

I love seeing photos of Louise Brooks that I had not seen before. Those were the days!

The Art of Amy Crehore

Lulu is 100

"Lulu" could not stand fake people. She fled Hollywood. She was too real. And, she was cool!

The American silent-film actress Louise Brooks (1906-1985) is one of the great female icons in the history of the cinema. Celebrating the 100th anniversary of her birth, The International Center of Photography in NYC will have an exhibit of Louise Brooks images from the George Eastman House archives, Jan 19-April 29th, 2007.

Louise Brooks and the "New Woman" in Weimar Cinema

The Art of Amy Crehore

Louise Brooks, Inspiration

Louise Brooks
"Black Comedy" by Amy Crehore Copyright 2005

Although most of my Little Pierrots were drawn without looking at any reference material at all, a couple of them were inspired by the poses of beautiful silent movie star, Louise Brooks.

www.amycrehore.com

art

Amy_Crehore

Louise Brooks' Private Journals to be Revealed

Louise Brooks (1927 photo by Eugen Robert Richee)

"Brooks passed away in August of 1985. Before her death, she bequeathed her private journals to the George Eastman House in Rochester, New York, with instructions that they remain sealed for 25 years." They have now been opened. Read more: LINK

The Art of Amy Crehore

"Black Cat Tease" by Amy Crehore

Louise Brooks Black Cat Tease copyright 2005 Amy Crehore "Little Pierrot" series

I had mentioned in an earlier blogpost that I used pictures of Louise Brooks as references for just a couple of my "Little Pierrot" paintings. Here is one of the paintings I did. This painting is a tribute to Louise, her sense of humor and her sex appeal. The rest of the paintings in my pierrot series were done without using any references. My girls are all imaginary.
Little Pierrot Series

The Art of Amy Crehore

Eight Useless Facts

Here are the rules:1. We have to post these rules before we give you the facts. 2. Players start with eight random facts/habits about themselves. 3. People who are tagged write their own blog post about their eight things and include these rules. 4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged and that they should read your blog.

Eight facts about me:

1. I used to suck my thumb and it gave me crooked teeth

2. I ate at the same Korean Restaurant once a week for the past 7 years or something.

3. I have a scar on my lip from being hit in the face with a jack-in-the-box when I was six.

4. I post things on forums or this blog sometimes when I am tired and upset and not thinking. Then I regret it later and I have those things removed. And then I try to have the posts removed from search engines.

5. I played the song "Gloria" on the back of Ken Kesey's float in a parade. He was dressed in a bear suit. He almost hit his head on a tree branch.

6. I am painting a couple of paintings right now of "Lolitas"

7. I am sitting in a big mess and it's 100 degrees.

8. I hike up a small mountain once a day if possible.

Okay...this is a dare from mardecortesbaja.com and I'm supposed to post links to eight other blogs and dare them to do it, too. Louise Brooks- maybe she will come back from the dead and speak to us!

John Brownlee at http://www.ectomo.com/

Marshall Sponder at http://www.artnewyorkcity.com/

Johnny at http://www.drawn.ca/

Mark Fraunfelder at http://www.boingboing.net/

Chris Keeley at Daily Dreamtime

Erling Wold at http://www.erlingwold.com/

Steve Lodefink at http://www.finkbuilt.com/blog/

Louise Brooks at http://louisebrooks.livejournal.com/

The Art of Amy Crehore

Backstage, Lulu and The Bather

"Backstage" painting by Amy Crehore (Little Pierrot Series-fine art print)

Lulu

Rene Magritte, "The Bather" 1925

Happy New Year! I'd like to bring in the new year with Magritte's painting, "The Bather" 1925.
This painting was thought to be inspired by none other than the thoroughly modern Louise Brooks ("Lulu" shown above). Both images wonderfully represent the Art Deco period. For more photos of Louise Brooks and Ziegfeld Follies girls try this link: empousa.multiply.com

And don't miss the Magritte show at LACMA if you live in Southern California.

Also, I have a special offer of free shipping on my "Little Pierrot" and "Monkey Love" prints until February 15, 2007:

The Art of Amy Crehore

Lulu in Bed

This is how Louise Brooks spent her final days - captured by Guido Crepax, cartoonist (based on her letters to him). The truth is she probably didn't look this good at the time she wrote those letters, but there is a lot of room for fantasy in art. Louise was always depicted as the perfect specimen in art and film. These images have never lost their appeal. She was thoroughly modern in the 1920's and her look is still "in" because it's classic. (via the dead can dance ). To see some great photos of Ms. Brooks go here: link

The Art of Amy Crehore

Wanda Gag

Wanda Hazel Gág was born on March 11, 1893 in New Ulm, Minnesota. I wish I had known Wanda Gag. She wrote and illustrated "Millions of Cats" in 1928. It's one of my favorite children's books. Here is a photo of the French version. "Millions of Cats" was named a Newbery Honor Book the year it came out. Gág is credited with being the first artist to utilize the double-page spread and to revive hand lettered text. Her pen and ink drawings have this incredible sense of rhythm. They flow up and down and all around...from page to page. Wanda also exhibited her fine art in NYC galleries and she was a friend of Georgia O'Keefe. I never knew that. It seems she was a very clever artist indeed. She is even sporting a Louise Brooks hairdo in this attractive photo.

You can read more and see a list of books by

Wanda Gag

The Art of Amy Crehore

Audrey Style

Photo by Unknown 1954

Photo by Anthony Beauchamp 1950

It's hard to say when Audrey Hepburn "peaked".

She had some perky peaks and pointed peaks. This gal was all about style. Whether it was starring in a film or doing charity work for Unicef, Audrey could do no wrong. She had class, humor and strong values. Too bad her life was so short. I'm sure she would have accomplished even more and grown even more beautiful as the years went by. This is my little tribute to that rare gem with the unforgettable eyebrows and photogenic face, a designer's dream girl:

Audrey Hepburn

Now, why can't we have more Audreys and Louise Brooks girls? I'm tired of hardcore tacky.

The Art of Amy Crehore

The "It" Girl

Why is Louise Brooks so much more amazing than ANY woman in cinema today? Or any woman in fashion, music or theater? Why, why, why? For one thing, she's natural. She's got heart. She doesn't have tattoos. She doesn't have clown make up on. She's not hardcore. She doesn't have fake boobs. She's got class. She's got style. She's got guts. She's fearless. She's beautiful. She's unique. She stood up to the phonies and the copycats. She's got that certain something that is sorely lacking in today's world. We need her more than ever. Go buy the newly restored dvd of Pandora's Box.

The Art of Amy Crehore

Dolly Haas: Al Hirschfeld's other half

Who was this Louise Brooks-style cutie pie photographed playing the accordion, wearing trousers and smoking a cigarette or a little pipe? It was Dolly Haas and she was a famous actress (born in Germany in 1910) who married a famous American illustrator in 1943. They were married until she died in 1994. She did European films, acted on Broadway and was in an Alfred Hitchcock film. Al Hirschfeld, her illustrator-genius husband, lived to be 99 years old. LINK

Read about Dolly here: European Film Star Postcards.

The Art of Amy Crehore

Exotica!

These covers of Martin Denny's "Exotica" albums are so witchy and strange. I think Louise Brooks had those dark eyes, too. (Which means I did not really look like her at all since I have blue eyes. Blue eyes don't cut it. I happened to watch "Pandora's Box" last night and confirmed that fact.) These women all have that tantalizing come-hither look in their eyes. The music is queasy-listening, classically surreal, Hawaiian lounge-style from the late 50's. It will put you in a trance, I think. Or make you do a naughty dance with your cat.

Read about Martin Denny: The High Priest of Exotica

The Art of Amy Crehore

This Should Keep the Riffraff Away

Link
This is a great Louise Brooks photo with guns that I hadn't seen before.
(thanks to apelad at Hobotopia)
The Art of Amy Crehore

The Silent Vamps

Anna May Wong
Louise Brooks
Lily Damita
Jean Harlow
Silent Ladies
had all the fun.
The Art of Amy Crehore

Josephine Baker, Muse

Okay, a friend of mine asked me to post more pictures of Ms. Baker and I am happy to comply.

She was the model for many posters and ads of the period. Her black helmet hair and her rubber limbs inspired zillions of wonderful art deco images. For more history and images go here:

Josephine Baker

They are currently having a show of rare photographs of Ms. Baker at the

New York Public Library for the Performing Arts

Here's another good site for photos of Ziegfeld Follies. There you will find Josephine Baker and Louise Brooks, two of my favorite muses. (Thanks to www.meathaus.com)

art
Amy_Crehore

Interlude

It's Louise Brooks again in the tutu. I have been super busy lately painting for the Blab show and I don't have much time to really post anything.
The show itself is hush hush, so I won't be able to show you any sketches until after they put up their website. I am also supposed to paint for a Palm Springs show that opens the same day, Sept. 23, 2006. More on that later!